Pieces of Time
by ncfan
Summary: "All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will... Where do you want to start?" Doctor Who drabbles and oneshots. Characters, pairings and word counts may vary. See each chapter for more information.
1. 01: Office on a Train

**Title**: Office on a Train**  
>Era<strong>: Eleventh Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Eleven, Amy**  
>Genres<strong>: General, Drama, Friendship**  
>Rating<strong>: K**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: Spoilers for _The Wedding of River Song_**  
>Timeline<strong>: _The Wedding of River Song_**  
>AN**: Okay, here is the first of my drabbles for my _Doctor Who _drabble collection. I'll take requests if you have them, but just to warn you, I've only watched the new series, so I'll only be accepting requests from the Ninth Doctor's era onwards. As ever, I reserve the right to refuse requests.**  
>Word Count<strong>: 252**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor Who._

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><p>If the circumstances were different, the Doctor has no doubt he'd be squealing about how cool it is that Amy's got an office on a <em>train<em>. That's like something straight out a movie, and a good movie too, not one of those B-list flicks everyone forgets about five minutes after they finish writing.

As it is, the Doctor barely even notices the fact that they are in a moving, rattling office. Instead, he looks over his lost friend and chokes down sadness.

Amelia Pond, clad all in black and wearing an eye patch. Looking at him with a decidedly dubious expression on her pale, pretty face, the Doctor sees Amy, _his _Amy, the Girl Who Waited. And he sees a total stranger.

_She doesn't remember me. Judging by that eye patch she's working with the Silence, so she probably hates me. I can handle this._

_Maybe._

He's still groggy and weak from the sedative, and Amy just watches, unimpressed, her one visible eye occasionally flicking to the surroundings. The Doctor stumbles towards her, babbling on and on about how they're best friends in another universe, and she just stares at him. He grabs onto something on a desk for support.

_You've got to see. Please Amy, tell me you remember._

Then, the Doctor looks at his hand, and realizes what he's holding. He looks at the mini-TARDIS in his hand, looks at Amy and Amy's grin and her _'dolt' _expression, and smiles.

"You've got an office on a train! That is so cool!"


	2. 02: Only in Body

**Title**: Only in Body**  
>Era<strong>: Eleventh Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Eleven x River**  
>Genres<strong>: General**  
>Rating<strong>: K+**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: spoilers for _The Wedding of River Song_**  
>Timeline<strong>: post-_The Wedding of River Song_ (River's perspective)**  
>AN**: I'm getting around to filling out the request. Feedback is always appreciated.**  
>Word Count<strong>: 251**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor Who._

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><p>She is picked up a week after Lake Silencio; they find her smiling, much to their horror. The authorities have caught up to the woman who killed the Doctor, and she doesn't even fight as they haul her off.<p>

River Song is sentenced to an astronomically long prison term, to be served in the Storm Cage. The judge looks upon the murderer's levity with revulsion. _"One can only hope that reflection in your cell will impress upon you the enormity of what you've done."_

To this, River only laughs. _"Trust me, my Lady; I already know."_

Storm Cage is bleak and grim, the weather intemperate and the guards utterly terrified of River Song. They are caging the perfect psychopath, and within six months she has the run of the place, to the point that the guards can barely keep from shaking in her presence. Still, River can't leave.

She doesn't care.

If her sentence last a hundred thousand years, if she never sees the light of day again, she will go out with a smile and a laugh. River's imprisonment is only in body; in her mind, she will always be free, and she stays awake every night, waiting for the telltale sound of a TARDIS with its parking brake left on. In River's mind, she will always be free.

And she will die with a smile on her face, because she has a secret that they don't know, that she will take to the grave.

She didn't kill the Doctor.


	3. 03: Cute When He's Flustered

**Title**: Cute When He's Flustered**  
>Era<strong>: Eleventh Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Eleven x River**  
>Genres<strong>: Romance, Humor**  
>Rating<strong>: T**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: spoilers for _The Wedding of River Song_**  
>Timeline<strong>: post-_The Wedding of River Song_ (Doctor's perspective)**  
>AN**: Not exactly "flirting", per say, but it does have a very flirtatious feel, or so I like to think. Then again, who am I kidding? This is flirting taken to the nth degree.**  
>Dedication<strong>: Dedicated to **InvaderVyn**.**  
>Word Count<strong>: 404**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor Who._

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><p>"Why didn't you stop her!"<p>

The Doctor might storm back into the TARDIS in a huff, but River saunters in with a grin on her face and a sparkle in her eyes. The Doctor, flush creeping up from the base of his neck to his hairline, slumps against a railing and River just looks at her newlywed husband and grins.

"I don't know what you mean, dear."

Clenching his jaw, the Doctor gesticulates with flapping hands towards the door. If his intent is intimidation, he falls far flat of the mark; River can't help but find his frustration to be mind-bogglingly _cute_. "That woman! That woman and her, her her her her…" He squirms where he stands, plainly reliving the "woman" in question's advances and experiencing horror at having to relive the experience.

Bright green eyes open wide innocent. "Ohh… _That _woman." River's mouth pauses to reconstruct from a saucy grin into an ingenuous smile. The Doctor is not fooled by her display and he glowers at her. "I'm not sure why you were worried. It's not like she was going to brain you and drag you off into a backroom. That's when you should be worried, not when one of the locals is just trying to feel you up." She takes a few deliberately slow steps forward.

"Your parents…" The Doctor runs a hand through his hair; his mouth twitches this way and that when he sees the way she walks "…your parents," he repeats himself, getting back on track, "…what I mean to say is that neither Amy nor Rory would have let someone try that on the other. Never!"

River laughs unconcernedly; her soles cling off of the TARDIS floors. "You'll find that I'm not nearly as jealous as my parents." She conjures up the sauciest smile yet seen that night. "Consider it a gift."

"You enjoy seeing me suffer, don't you?" he accuses her.

On that note, River closes the gap, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders and a new flush spreading up the Doctor's neck like wildfire. "Maybe… Maybe just a _little _bit."

"Sadist."

"Sadistic? Me? Never." The Doctor laughs at this, an incredulous, fond little laugh. River tilts her chin up; she feels hands on her hips. "You're just so very adorable when you're flustered, sweetie."

"Good. Glad to know I still appeal to you."

River doesn't see how he could ever _stop _appealing to her.


	4. 04: Pond, Amelia Pond

**Title**: Pond. Amelia Pond.**  
>Era<strong>: Eleventh Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Amy**  
>Genres<strong>: General, Action-Adventure**  
>Rating<strong>: K+**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: Spoilers for _The__ Wedding __of __River __Song_**  
>Timeline<strong>: _The__ Wedding__ of __River__ Song_**  
>AN**: Not much to say here.**  
>Word<strong>** Count**: 219**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor__ Who._

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><p>Given her nature, it's not hard to believe that a girl like Amelia Pond loved action movies as a kid. Anything with guns, blood, threats and all-around testosterone poisoning; those were the only movies for her. Amy lived for nights when she would go to the cinema (the memory of who she went with is more than a little hazy and depends on which universe you're talking about) and watch car wrecks and chase scenes through crowded city streets. The good guy would always win, of course; that's the way movies are supposed to go.<p>

And Amy's favorite action hero was James Bond.

Like many Bond-lovers, she has a favorite Bond in particular, the first. Sean Connery was the first, the best, and played Bond with a Scottish accent, which of course was going to endear him to Amy.

So when she finds herself in the position, she just can't resist adapting one of Bond's famous lines for her own use.

The soldiers scope out the area to make sure it's safe and the Silence neutralized. Captain Williams nods and Amy steps forward, towards Churchill and the Doctor.

"Pond. Amelia Pond."

It's hard not to crack a giddy little grin at being able to use that line. Sometimes, Amy really loves having a last name that rhymes with Bond.


	5. 05: Five Minutes

**Title**: Five Minutes**  
>Era<strong>: Eleventh Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Eleven, Amy**  
>Genres<strong>: Angst, Sci-Fi**  
>Rating<strong>: K+**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: Spoilers for _'__The__ Eleventh __Hour__'_**  
>Timeline<strong>: _'__The __Eleventh__ Hour__'_**  
>AN**: It suddenly occurred to me that I've never really thought long and hard about what must have been going through the Doctor's head when he realized that Amy was the little girl in _'__The__ Eleventh __Hour__'__._ A crime, I'm sure.**  
>Word<strong>** Count**: 490**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor__ Who._

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><p>"<em>Well<em>_ why__ did __you __say __five __minutes?__"_

The young woman all but shouts the words, and all the Doctor can say in response is "What?" His voice sounds like a broken record, being played over and over again, as she drags him away from the house and the rabidly barking multiform.

"You're Amelia?" The Doctor asks, flabbergasted.

"Yes," she snaps bitterly, "and you're late."

"What happened?"

"Twelve years," she snaps again.

_Twelve__ years__… _It hadn't really sunk in for the Doctor until he hears Amelia snapping at him. He looks her up and down, and tries to fathom all the changes he sees from the little girl who fed him fish fingers and custard to the acerbic, pushy young woman he sees how.

_Good__ grief, __she __got __tall._At first, all the Doctor can see are the physical changes. Seven-year-old Amelia Pond was tall for her age, but nineteen-year-old Amelia Pond is practically a giant; she's nearly as tall as he is, and at the very least the two of them are on eye level with each other. Her hair's just as brilliant a shade of red as it was before; _Why__ can__'__t _I _ever __have __hair __like __that? _Once the Doctor gets over the shock of how tall Amelia is and overcomes his ginger envy, his mind is drawn to more unpleasant changes.

Amelia didn't have that bitter note in her voice. Amelia didn't have that look of perpetual anger stamped across her face. Amelia didn't seem a harsh, sour human being. Of course, that was twelve years ago, and sometimes the Doctor underestimates the effect the passage of time can have on these humans.

_It __was __really __twelve __years, __then? __Really __twelve __years? _Amelia is bitter and caustic and apparently she's been to four psychiatrists—not that they did much to help her; if anything, Amelia's multiple trips to a psychiatrist only seems to have made things worse. _Wait__ a __minute, __how__ do __I__ know __this? __It__'__s __not __like __I__ know __what __she __was __like __before __she __went__ to __the __psychiatrists._

Then again, the Doctor does know what Amelia was like when she was a little girl, and nothing could be more different than her behavior now. _Why__ do __they __always __grow __up __so __bitter?_

_Wait… They usually don't._

Amelia throws a green-eyed glare, piercing and yet somehow trying so hard not to be, in his direction, and the Doctor swallows hard on an emotion that is foreign to his new self, but will become painfully familiar given time: guilt.

_But it was only supposed to be five minutes. We were going to go run away and eat lots of fish fingers and custard. It can't have been twelve years. I said I'd be back in five minutes. I promised._

The Atraxi are chanting in the air overhead, a tall, bitter Amelia is glowering at him, and the Doctor can't understand why five minutes had to take twelve years.


	6. 06: is not bliss

**Title**: is not bliss**  
>Era<strong>: Tenth Doctor**  
>CharactersPairings**: Ten, River, mentions of Donna**  
>Genres<strong>: Angst, Sci-Fi, Mystery**  
>Rating<strong>: K+**  
>WarningsSpoilers**: Spoilers for _'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead'_**  
>Timeline<strong>: post-'_Forest of the Dead'_**  
>AN**: Hi! To those of you who actually care, yes, I am back. I was working on a _very _long project for another fandom, and I didn't actually really want to do anything until I was done with it. Now that I am, I am, as I said, back. And if the characterization of Ten seems a bit spotty, I'm sorry; I'm still far more used to doing fics with Eleven as the Doctor in them.**  
>Dedication<strong>: Dedicated to **bleachotaku**.**  
>Word Count<strong>: 756**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own _Doctor Who._

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><p>Donna wanted to sleep. She won't tell the Doctor what it was about leaving behind her faux-life in the hard drive that has left her so drained and wan—though he can guess—and frankly, he suspects that she wouldn't give an answer even if he asked her. <em>Donna wouldn't feel like she was obligated to talk to me about something like that. Donna's not going to do anything she doesn't want to do, no matter who's doing the asking.<em>

Under the circumstances, the Doctor let her go off to bed—_"Careful not to wander into the room with the swimming pool again!"_—without questions; he'd wanted a bit of time to himself anyways. So now the Doctor, who doesn't need nearly as much as sleep as humans, thank you very much, mans the TARDIS control room by himself, wondering where they should go next.

_Maybe somewhere nice, with a beach or something. It'd have to have bananas; no beach is really complete without bananas. I could land there and wait for Donna to wake up and then I'd tell her to look out the door. Then I could make a sandcastle…_

Thoughts of beaches stray from the Doctor's mind as another one infiltrates it, kicks over the sandcastles and dries up the oceans with one negligent sweep of the hand.

_She knew my name._

River Song knew his name; there's no getting around that simple fact. All that talk about knowing the Doctor and having been on adventures with him, he hadn't believed it. He'd thought her a conwoman, nothing more than a con, until she leaned up and whispered his name in his ear.

_It can't be faked. _The Doctor has never so much as breathed his name out loud; nor does it exist, written down, in any records that River ever could have gotten her hands on. The only records that hold his name were lost with Gallifrey, and somehow, the Doctor doubts that River could have broken through a time lock. That leaves only one alternative.

"_There's only one reason I'd ever tell you my name. There's only one time I could."_

_No. That can't be it. That can't be how it happened. She must have picked it up from somewhere else. _The Doctor rebels at the unfortunately very real possibility that he told River his name. What that means for his future relationship with her, what that means for him, is not something he wants to face. _Time is not the boss of me. I go where I want to go, do what I want to do. I won't let an outside force dictate _any _aspect of my life._

Struggling to content himself with this show of bravado, the Doctor taps buttons and pulls on levers, setting a new course. The vibrant, surging energy of the Time Vortex, so much the same as a rushing current, is as soothing as it ever has been, but it can't banish thought from his head. No matter how he wishes he could turn his mind to less troubling thoughts and smile, there is no haven here.

_I should have asked her how she knew. I should have asked. I would have known if she was lying. Why didn't I just ask her how she knew?_

The Doctor can't go back to the Library to ask her. Chances are he wouldn't be able to land within the time of the grace period granted by the Vashta Nerada, and he has no intention of exposing Donna to that danger again. And even if he did land in the right time, the Doctor isn't entirely sure how he would be able to contact River to ask her. Breaking into the hard drive long enough to catch a glimpse of Donna was a fluke, an accident. _And would she even tell me?_

'Ignorance is bliss.' _It does figure that it would be humans who came up with that one, _the Doctor muses grimly. _Humans do have a depressing habit of running away from unsettling truths._

_Then again, so do I._

'Ignorance is not bliss' is the phrase more favored by the Doctor. In this case, his ignorance as to how River knew his name gives him anything but the warm-fuzzies. _How could she know my name? Did it really come to that? Did it really get to that one time? _River was a woman of many secrets, and she's taken this one to the grave.

_How did she know my name?_

The Doctor would give anything to know.


End file.
